One lookout - a smokejumper with ample wildland fire experience - said later it had been a long time since he'd seen extreme fire behavior like that in the Northern Rockies, said Gash Creek fire Information Officer Mike Cole.
The fast-moving blaze blew over fire lines on the eastern side of the north fork of Sweathouse Creek in the vicinity of the Glen Lake Trailhead and set spot fires in the adjoining Smith Creek drainage despite fire retardant drops on the ridge top. By late Monday, the fire had reached the ridge between Smith Creek and Big Creek.
About 100 firefighters were pulled out of the northeast part of the fire as a safety precaution well before the extreme fire behavior began.
Some firefighters had to leave equipment behind on the Smith Creek Road after a water tender rolled a tire off the road's shoulder. Cole didn't know if any of that equipment had been scorched.
“We'll be kind of regrouping tonight,” Cole said. “We'll get a better idea of what's happened after an infrared flight ... there's going to be a lot more acreage in the morning. That's for sure.”
At last count, the fire had burned 5,250 acres and was 60 percent contained.
To add to the confusion, a suspicious fire backed up traffic on U.S. Highway 12 just a few miles outside of Lolo at the same time the plume of smoke coming off Gash Creek was at its peak.
The fire burned five empty fireworks stands stored in a field just off the highway.
Dustin MacArthur and his family were unloading groceries from the car just across the street when the fire flared up.
“There was just a stream of smoke at first,” MacArthur said. “I thought it was a tractor and then it just took off. It was scary fast. The flames were probably 30 feet high.”
Fire crews were on the scene in about five minutes.
“I felt a lot better when they showed up,” he said. “One of the guys who stopped right away on the highway said the back door of one of the sheds was open. Those buildings have always been padlocked.”
Missoula Rural Fire Chief Dale Walker called in a team of investigators while the buildings were still smoking.
“This fire is certainly suspicious,” he said. “There's no reasonable explanation of why these buildings would catch on fire.”
With the area bone dry, the fire could have easily gotten out of hand and threatened nearby homes. A quick response by Missoula Rural, DNRC and Florence firefighters knocked the blaze down quickly.
“The potential was here,” Walker said. “This certainly could have been a lot worse.”
The almost 32,000-acre Red Eagle fire also sent up a “pretty good column” of smoke Monday as the fire burned through some heavy fuels in the high country.
“For the most part it's burning in those high cirques,” said Fire Information Officer Pat McKelvey. “There's still a lot of heat up there.”
The fire is estimated to be about 75 percent contained, with most of the active burning in the high cirque basins in the south corner of the fire. The estimated perimeter of the fire is over 80 miles.
Firefighters have had a few close calls with vehicles driven by onlookers stopping in inappropriate spots on the roadways, McKelvey said. Drivers are asked to stop only on graveled turnouts in the fire zone.
Near Philipsburg, gusty afternoon winds buffeted the Sand Basin fire, which grew from about 20 acres on Sunday to an estimated 130 by Monday afternoon.
The fire is burning in a dense whitebark pine and spruce forest about 21 miles southwest of Philipsburg in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.
About 75 firefighters have hiked in to battle the remote blaze. Air tankers dropped retardant on the fire all day Monday. Four helicopters also dropped buckets of water on hot spots.
The fire broke out Sunday. It's believed have been started from a lightning strike.
“This has been such a funny year that you can't tell if this fire is going to grow or just be irritating for a few days,” said Jack de Golia, spokesman for the Beaverhead-Deerlodge Forest. “On this side of the divide, we've had higher humidity, a lot less lightning and just enough rain at the right time to keep the fires from getting out of hand.”
“We're certainly not lacking for the amount of fuel we have out there,” de Golia said. “Our fires just haven't taken off like they did in 2000 or 2002.”
About 60 firefighters worked to corral the Stevens fire burning about three miles northeast of Arlee.
Crews were busy dragging fire hose along the lines dug earlier around the 30-acre blaze in thick timber. A helicopter helped quell hot spots.
Initial attack crews jumped on blazes in the Rock Creek drainage and in the Rattlesnake area near Missoula on Monday.
A pair of single engine air tankers and a helicopter dropped retardant and water on the 2 1/2-acre Golden fire northwest of Golden Mountain in the Rock Creek drainage. About 25 firefighters hiked into the remote area to fight the lightning-caused fire burning in grass and ponderosa pine.
Two heli-tack firefighters were dropped off near a small fire burning less than an acrea in the Rattlesnake area about three miles northeast of the Marshall Mountain ski area. Lightning again was the suspected cause.
About 175 firefighters used fire to fight fire on the 270-acre Keep Cool fire near Lincoln Monday. After finishing an indirect line around the fire's perimeter, crews burned out sections between the line and the fire on the northern and western edges.
The lightning-caused fire is burning about five miles north of Lincoln in a mixture of spruce, fir and lots of deadfall.
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